What is the main message of The Catcher in the Rye?
As its title indicates, the dominating theme of The Catcher in the Rye is the protection of innocence, especially of children. For most of the book, Holden sees this as a primary virtue. It is very closely related to his struggle against growing up.
What is Salinger trying to say in Catcher in the Rye?
Interpretation. The Catcher in the Rye takes the loss of innocence as its primary concern. Holden wants to be the “catcher in the rye”—someone who saves children from falling off a cliff, which can be understood as a metaphor for entering adulthood.
What is the first paragraph in Catcher in the Rye?
‘If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. ‘
What is the story Catcher in the Rye about?
The Catcher in the Rye Summary. What is The Catcher in the Rye about? It is the story of Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy who narrates two days of his life from the previous Christmas after he has been expelled from Pencey Prep School for failing most of his classes.
What does Holden realize at the end?
Holden’s attitude shifts near the end of The Catcher In The Rye when he realizes Phoebe and other children must be allowed to “grab for the gold ring,” to choose their own risks and take them, even though their attempts may be dangerous.
Why is Catcher in the Rye so famous?
Salinger’s novel has been wildly popular since it came out in 1951. It’s been lauded as changing the course of post-Second World War writing—at least American writing—as much as Ernest Hemingway’s work did in the inter-war period.
Why is The Catcher in the Rye banned?
Offensive Language
One of the main reasons people have banned The Catcher in The Rye is because it contains foul language. The protagonist, a sixteen-year-old boy named Holden swears throughout the book, which makes parents feel like he’s a bad role model for their teens who are reading the novel in school.
What is the last line of Catcher in the Rye?
Don’t tell anybody anything.
For sheer teenage disaffection, it’s matched by the last line of Catcher in the Rye: “Don’t tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” And also from the US, let’s not forget Margaret Mitchell’s ending to Gone With the Wind: “After all, tomorrow is another day.” Pure hokum, like the novel.
Why is Holden in a mental hospital?
Today, readers might infer that Holden must be suffering from some combination of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety. Holden himself references mental illness, trauma, and psychoanalysis.
What does the last line of The Catcher in the Rye mean?
From that, Holden is in the hospital. The last line of the book says, “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” From what I remember, this means that Holden made up all of those stories.
What mental illness does Holden have?
Holden displays many common traits of a person with PTSD following this loss. He has substantial amounts of guilt and depression and struggles to remember the details of events in his life. Holden’s emotions seem to be highly unbalanced.
What does the last line of Catcher in the Rye mean?
Why is it called catcher in the rye?
The book’s title stems from a scene in Chapter 16 when Holden observes a young boy who, ignored by his parents, walks in the street while singing “If a body catch a body coming through the rye.” Holden interprets this scene as a perfect expression of the innocence of youth.
Who was killed because of Catcher in the Rye?
Robert John Bardo, Rebecca Schaeffer’s killer, was found with The Catcher in the Rye when he killed her. He was a long time stalker of Schaeffer, obsessing over her for a few years. When he saw her in bed with another man in one of her films, he was furious and thought that was a good enough reason to kill her.
What mental illness does Holden Caulfield have?
Caulfield may be seen as suffering from a variety of mental illnesses including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This mental state could be a result of a variety of factors, including the death of his younger brother Allie, as well as witnessing the gruesome scene of a classmate’s death.
Why was Catcher and the Rye banned?
9. It was banned for subversion. In 1978, the book was banned in high schools in Issaquah, Washington for being part of “an overall communist plot”.
What happens at the end of Catcher in the Rye?
The Catcher In The Rye ends with Holden stopping the story after taking Phoebe to the Central Park Zoo. Holden simply says he’s going back to school and misses his classmates (Even those he didn’t like much), and that discussion about his story made him miss them.
Who dies in Catcher in the Rye?
Allie
Allie died of leukemia at the Caulfields’ summer home in Maine on July 18, 1946. He was 11 years old; Holden was 13. Holden, distraught over the loss of his brother, broke his hand punching the windows out of the garage of their summer home.
What mental disorder does Holden have?
What is the most important symbol in The Catcher in the Rye?
The red hunting hat is one of the most recognizable symbols from twentieth-century American literature. It is inseparable from our image of Holden, with good reason: it is a symbol of his uniqueness and individuality. The hat is outlandish, and it shows that Holden desires to be different from everyone around him.
Is Holden from Catcher in the Rye a sociopath?
Holden is suffering from something far more severe than a minor mental disorder such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, he has antisocial personality disorder, or an irrational and destructive mindset that is characterized by a disregard for others (“Antisocial Personality Disorder”).
Why is it called Catcher in the Rye?
What disorders does Holden Caulfield have?
Why is The Catcher in the Rye a banned book?
The Catcher in the Rye has been challenged several times for its “excessive vulgar language, sexual scenes, and things concerning moral issues” (Sova).
What happens to Holden at the end of Catcher in the Rye?
Holden concludes his story by refusing to discuss what happened after his day in the park with Phoebe, although he does say that he went home, got sick, and was sent to the rest home from which he now tells his story.